


Draw A Card

by Sarcadae



Series: Playing For The High One, Dancing With The Devil [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Blind Character, Gen, I keep forgetting that one, Just some names, No Beta, Oda give us more, Set Before Canon, We know nothing about the Spade Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26952007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcadae/pseuds/Sarcadae
Summary: He’s just enjoying the relative calmness of the place when there’s a commotion ahead. He hurries his pace, and quickly comes to a stop in front of an interesting scene.There’s a woman with long black hair with two white streaks in it engaging an old man in a shouting match. That’s not what’s interesting though. What is interesting is the large dead boar behind the woman.
Series: Playing For The High One, Dancing With The Devil [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962772
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Draw A Card

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on a roll these days. I usually take a lot of time to write something, but this one took me 4 hours. What the heck.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this one ! And I'll try to not take a decade to write the next one.
> 
> Also, thank you to Aibhilin for the title !

They’re finally going into the Grand Line. Ace can barely stay in place. 

It’s their last stop before heading for Reverse Mountain. They found the island relatively easily, since it’s only a day’s voyage away from Loguetown (and Ace refuses to go there. He won’t step foot on that island, even for all the food in the world.) 

Neevile Island is a big island, with only one town, Monstadt. It is known across the East Blue as the Green Island, with huge trees and a lot of plants and flowers covering every free space. The town is bigger than Foosha village from what he can remember, but it doesn’t matter to him. They’re only here to restock and have their last meal in East Blue before heading for the Grand Line. 

As soon as they dock, Deuce places a hand on his shoulder and leans slightly into his personal space. 

“We’re close to Loguetown and its Marine base. So please Captain, don’t set the town on fire.” 

His first-mate has a serious expression on his face, eyes locked with his. They keep their eyes locked on each other for a beat, before Ace shrugs the other’s hand from his shoulder. 

“I wasn’t going to do that.” He can feel the urge to pout at his friend, but resists. He’s not a child, damn it ! 

Deuce gives him an incredulous look, and Cornelia does the same from her place near the railing next to them. Even Saber does it from the door to the inside of the ship ! 

“I wasn’t !” He insists, and yep, he’s pouting now. 

“Sure you weren’t, we just wanted to make things clear.” Cornelia says, giving him a smirk before joining Finamore who has a list in hand. Probably all the groceries they’ll need to buy. 

Ace walks down the gangplank while muttering under his breath. His crew is such a bunch of worriers ! And for the record, he would like to note that it only happened _one time_ ! And it wasn’t _his fault_ to begin with !

* * *

Ace walks along the stalls on the market, testing the food the vendors offer him and looking around for nothing in particular. He’s just enjoying the relative calmness of the place when there’s a commotion ahead. He hurries his pace, and quickly comes to a stop in front of an interesting scene. 

There’s a woman with long black hair with two white streaks in it engaging an old man in a shouting match. That’s not what’s interesting though. What is interesting is the large dead boar behind the woman. He can’t see any wounds on the animal, so it probably died of blunt trauma. 

He keeps watching them shout at each other about prices and someone named Roland before the woman huffs and grabs one leg of the animal to drag him behind her. Ace decides to follow her, because if she’s nice maybe she’ll give him some meat. All the free sample he tried is making him hungry. 

They arrive at a bar near the shore, the sign above the door reading “The Boreas” in bold letters. The woman goes behind the building with her catch, so Ace goes inside. The interior is simple, with dark wooden furniture and dark blue curtains on the windows. The tables are mostly empty, only a few patrons here and there. 

The woman behind the bar gives him a look that says “are you going to block the door or what ?” so Ace hurries to one of the stools in front of the bar. He smiles sheepishly, taking the chance to look at her, assessing her quickly. She has dark blue hair with a few grey streaks. Her face looks stern, dark eyes with some wrinkles and a scar on the left corner of her mouth. She’s also tall, taller than him maybe, because he’s barely reaching her shoulders while sitting. 

She apparently also knows what he’s doing, because she only raises an eyebrow at him, but he can see her mouth twitching in a smile. 

“So, what can I get you ?” She asks him, her arms crossing in front of her. 

“A beer, please.” He replies, and when she turns to get him his order, his eyes dart to the door he can see on the left of the bar, no doubt leading outside, or to a backroom maybe. 

A snort and a tankard placed in front of him brings his attention back in front of him. 

“You’re not being subtle, kid.” The barkeeper says, her mouth openly showing her amusement. Ace blushes a little, giving her a quick thank you before nearly chocking on his drink in order to hide his embarrassment. 

The woman from earlier chooses that moment to come through the door, going straight for the other woman in the room. She also looks pissed off. 

“Let me guess” the barkeep says, searching in her pocket and retrieving a pack of cigarettes. “Old Rickard tried to buy your catch for half the price.” 

The other woman scowls, taking a bottle of beer from a cooler and downing half of it in one go. 

“Ha.” A chuckle and a puff of smoke, and the other woman drinks the remaining of the bottle. “He also tried to set you up on a date with his son.” 

“I hate this.” She says while placing the empty bottle in the sink. “It’s not like I’ve never told him before that I would never date his son. Old man can’t understand that I’m not interested.” 

“Poor baby.” The older woman chuckles, ruffling the shorter one’s hair. 

“Vauban-san ! Stop it !” Her hands swat at that Vauban’s hand before trying to fix the mess that is her hair now. “You know I hate when you do this.” 

“That’s why I keep doing it, Kary.” Great, now he has their names. It’ll make things easier. 

“Excuse me.” He begins to speak and immediately, their eyes are on him. It feels a little intimidating, if he’s honest, but he continues. “I was wondering about that boar.” 

“What about it ?” Kary asks him, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. 

“How many would you like for it ?” It’s been a long time since he had boar meat, and he misses it (misses Luffy ~~and Sabo~~ and their hunts). 

“3.000 Belly, but you’ll have to wait until I’m finished skinning it.” Kary responds, and Ace makes quick math. They have more than enough for it, thanks to Cornelia and her gambling skills. But if there’s one thing his female crewmate taught him since she joined him, it’s that you can get a lower price for anything, you just have to negotiate. 

“And if I do it myself ? Can I get it for 2.000 ?” Ace leans on the counter, his arms resting on it. His eyes stare into Kary’s, and she does the same. They keep staring at each other for a bit before Kary speaks again. 

“2.500. I’m not going any lower.” 

“You’ve got a deal !” Ace smiles brightly and extends a hand to her. They shake hands and Ace finishes his tankard in one go, leaving some money next to it on the counter before following Kary to the back of the building. (No dine-and-dash, or he might lose that boar. And Vauban looks _scary_.)

Finamore better be ready, he’s going to have some work to do !

* * *

That night, the Spade Pirates all went to eat at The Boreas. They were all joking and laughing, eating good food and drinking a lot of alcohol. The hangover the next morning will be _epic_. 

Ace was watching them all with a smile on his face from his spot at the bar. Seeing his crew in such good spirit was enough for him. His crew is a small one, not even ten people, but he likes it. Kary’s on his left, looking at the gathered pirates with curiosity and amusement. 

“They seem like good people.” She finally says, taking a sip from her bottle of beer. 

“They are. I don’t know what they saw in me, to leave their lives behind and follow me on the seas.” He admits, his smile losing some of its joy. It’s something he’s been asking himself ever since Deuce decided to become his first nakama. 

“Hm.” Kary hums a bit, leaning back against the bar. “Maybe you should stop asking yourself that. They’re here with you, and that should be enough.” 

Ace looks at her, surprised, and she chuckles a bit. 

“I may be blind, but I can still see some things. And their devotion to you is bright enough that it’s hard _not_ to see.” 

And that’s something that would have shocked him, her being blind, if she hadn’t told him when they were bringing the boar to his ship. Someone had bumped into her in a hurry, shouting at her to “watch where you’re going !” only for Kary to stop and raise an eyebrow at the man who did a double take and groaned when a shit-eating grin stretched on her lips. 

She had explained to him that she was born blind, but she didn’t need a cane or something to help her walk without bumping into things, or people. But the town’s people still had trouble remembering it, because she did everything like someone who could see. 

In Ace’s eyes, she was just more interesting. 

They kept talking as the night went on, and when it was time to head back, the sober ones had to drag the drunks to the ship. Ace took Saber and Skull on his shoulders, and Deuce took care of Finamore. Cornelia had a little trouble with Aggie, and Mihar wasn’t helping, laughing at her failed attempts to get their largest crewmate up from the floor. Kary went to help her, and they spent the trip back to the ship gossiping about the idiocy of men, Mihar still laughing behind them. 

Ace made a decision then and there. He turns around, walking backward to face the rest of his crew. He grins wide and says, determined, his voice carrying a little in the empty street. 

“Kary, join my crew.”

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think ? Don't hesitate to leave a comment !
> 
> If you wanna scream at me about One Piece, you can find me on [Tumblr](https://funk-jungle.tumblr.com/) !


End file.
